Sonic and the Wicked Doctor (DISCONTINUED)
by GamerWires627
Summary: The Doctor- no, not Eggman- is a terrifying man. He kept Sonic, Knuckles, and the rookie Ava captive for two months, eventually resulting in... something awful. Nobody knows except for those who were involved. What is Sonic to do when his friends are targeted? Nothing, apparently. Until one is found.
1. Beginnings

**Like I said in the description, Dr. Eggman IS NOT the Wicked Doctor. That is someone else. Dr. Eggman is barely even in this story. I think. If I come up with a way he can have a purpose, I'll put it in.**

 **Originally, I was planning a Sonic story where it was just about LGBT+ and/or love. I have a lot of pairings I support (it's easier to say which ones I don't like now, jfc) so if you guys want me to do a few oneshot stories, I will. I had a story with a bunch of oneshots at one point, but I got rid of it after chapter four (Shadamy- it was awkwardly written and Shadow was OOC. Plus Omega and Rouge were just standing around weirdly the entire time like 'oh you two are having a moment we'll just watch').**

 **And then I came up with this idea. Why? I was imagining what the next Sonic game could be like and I was wishing more attention could be given to anyone BESIDES Sonic. I mean, the ideal main cast for a Sonic game I would make would be Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver. They're easily my favorites. Knuckles is my favorite Sonic character (followed by Silver, Shadow, and Shard [Shard is from the comics and Nicole is cool too]. Amy and Blaze are pretty cool too) and I have an interesting habit of hurting all my favorite characters, so HERE WE ARE!** **(Crap I forgot Metal!)**

 **Note that I said hurt, not kill. I only kill the characters I don't like. And the only Sonic character I really don't like is BIG THE DIDDLY DARN CAT HONESTLY SCREW THAT GUY-**

* * *

"I'll be back for you two, I promise," said the light gray hedgehog.

The purple cat looked up at him. "You'll come back for us? Really? Silver, you can't, it's too dangerous," she said.

The red echidna was silent as he leaned against the wall.

Silver looked over at the Guardian. "Blaze, you and Knuckles have been getting worse every day. I have to get out and get help. Besides," he leaned in closer to her.

"I'm starting to get worried about him. He hasn't spoken in days and he barely eats or drinks."

"Knuckles will be fine, Silver. It's you that you should be worried about. Escaping won't be easy. Remember Nadia? She tried to escape. She was killed."

"Yeah, I remember Nadia perfectly. But I won't make the same mistake she did."

* * *

 _Beep beep beep beep. Beep bee-_

Shadow groaned as he extended a hand to grab his cell phone on the nightstand. His eyes were still closed as he brought it to his ear. "Hello? Shadow speaking..."

"Shadow!"

The voice on the other line made his eyes snap open. "Silver? What?! But you're-"

"Missing? Well, not anymore. But... um... I, uh..."

"What is it? Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"...Yeah..."

Shadow shot out of bed and went to look for his shoes. "Fine, I'll come find you, but you owe me for waking me up at-" he checked the clock- "Two twenty in the morning."

"..."

The Ultimate Lifeform finally found his shoes and put them on. He kept Silver on the line as he left his apartment, Chaos Emerald in hand. "Where are you?" he asked.

"I don't even know, but hurry! My phone's about to die and-" Suddenly the call cut out.

Shadow took the phone away from his ear. After walking down the sidewalk, on the direction out of town, his palm met his forehead. "I'm an idiot!"

"Chaos Control!"

Oddly enough, Shadow had discovered something cool about teleporting with Chaos Control. He didn't need to know exactly where a place was, but he could warp to someone, wherever they were.

It worked the best with those he was closer to- Rouge and Silver, sometimes Knuckles, some _how_ Sonic. With those he was not close to- say, Blaze- it either didn't work or got him into the general vicinity of that person.

He'd tried so many times to Chaos Control to Silver, Knuckles, or Blaze, but it had been impossible as of late.

Oh.

Wait.

I didn't explain, did I?

Silver, Knuckles, and Blaze have been missing, each for about two months.

* * *

"Thanks, Shadow," said Silver as he stepped into Shadow's apartment. The black and red hedgehog had found the light gray one easily and brought him to his apartment to stay the night- well, rest of it.

Shadow grunted out a 'no problem' as he closed the door. "I've got a spare room- that room, over there. You can stay there."

He went to head back to his room-

"Wait!"

Shadow turned to look at the younger hedgehog. "What is it? Are you hurt?" he asked, realizing that should have been his first question when he saw the familiar hedgehog.

"N-No... but I don't think I can... sleep... alone..." the last part was uttered so quietly, Shadow could barely hear it. However, he somewhat understood. The time-traveling hedgehog, after the trauma of being kidnapped and likely tortured or tested on, was afraid to sleep alone? Easily understandable. Maybe he was afraid that he would wake up back... wherever he had been.

Shadow sighed and motioned for Silver to follow him.

His pet Chao (which looked like him with black and red coloring and blue eyes, and was named Shao) chaoed its way out of the room where it had been sleeping. "Chao Chao!"

"Aww... he's so cute!" Silver exclaimed.

"'She'. Shao is a girl."

"Oh, sorry... i-it's kinda hard to tell."

"'Pology accepted," Shadow mumbled as he had already flopped back onto his bed.

* * *

Shadow wasn't exactly sure how the two had ended up in this position. Silver was nuzzled into his chest fluff, their feet were tangled together, and Shadow had an arm around the smaller hedgehog.

Honestly though? He kind of liked it. The position gave Shadow the opportunity to notice that Silver was actually quite short for a male hedgehog of his age. Well, Shadow was on the smaller side as well (he was actually just barely shorter than Sonic, but his upturned quills gave the impression of him being taller), so he couldn't talk.

* * *

Sonic sighed as he walked- yes, walked, you heard that right- down the sidewalk, through the rain, umbrella in one hand and shopping bags in the other from the latest grocery shopping trip. He was on his way to his and Tails' house.

There was a reason for his more somber mood. Sonic was known for being cheerful, not sullen. That job was Shadow's, not his! The fifteen-year-old blue hedgehog was starting to lose hope due to the disappearances of some of his closest friends.

He passed by a Missing poster as the thought crossed his mind.

 _MISSING_ , it read in all capital letters. _KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA._ Sonic didn't bother reading the rest and looking at the picture. He already knew that the photo was of Knuckles, a smirk on his face. Sonic had picked it out himself. There were posters for Blaze and Silver as well, but the one that stung the most was the one of the people he'd known for the shortest time.

 _The Rookie._ That kid... no, he didn't want to think about what happened to his friend.

Other posters for other missing Mobians were scattered around on the walls. There had to be some serial kidnapped going around. At least, he hoped.

When the blue hero finally reached his and Tails' house, he took out his key from the safe place in his quills to unlock the door, setting the groceries on the doorstep. He opened the door to find that Amy was over again, along with Shadow. "Hey, Sonic," the pink hedgehog said. She, too, was affected by the disappearances, causing her to adopt a more mature attitude about her feelings towards Sonic. She and Shadow had begun spending more time at his house as well.

After all, both lived alone, and if Knuckles and Blaze, the strongest people they knew, were kidnapped, then nobody was safe. Shadow refused to admit he was afraid, though. He always said he was just being... cautious.

Just as Sonic set down the bags and closed the umbrella, the phone rang. Tails rushed towards the phone and answered. "Hello?" he asked. "Mmm hmm? Yeah? Wh-what?!" Tails took the phone away from his ear. "Sonic! It's Tikal!"

The blue hedgehog snapped his head up. "What is it? What happened to her?!"

"She's having another attack! Only this time, it seems worse! She can barely talk to me on the phone, she says the pain is unbearable, and..."

Suddenly, a scream so loud Sonic could hear it THROUGH THE PHONE sounded.

Tails put his ear back to the phone, taking it away after only a moment. "She needs us to get to Angel Island, fast!"

* * *

Soon, Tails, Amy, Shadow, and Sonic arrived at Angel Island. Chaos, the water guardian, nodded in greeting. He and Tikal were helping guard the Master Emerald- which came in handy when Knuckles wasn't around to protect it.

Tikal was still reduced to just a spirit, but the Master Emerald's power allowed her to walk, talk, feel things, etc. She even looked normal. However, she could not leave the island. Chaos was free to do as he please, but preferred to stay with Tikal. It was hard to tell due to his inability to speak, but he was worried about the echidna girl when she had her 'attacks'.

The spirit herself was sitting on the steps of the altar. The hedgehogs and fox dashed to reach her.

"Tikal? Are you okay?" asked Amy, worried.

Tikal offered a tired smile. "Hello, Amy, Shadow, Sonic, Tails. I called you here because... something different happened when I had my attack."

"What kind of different?" asked Shadow, finally speaking.

"I had... thoughts in my head. Ones that weren't my own. You see, I... haven't been completely truthful."

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Sonic.

Tikal took a deep breath before explaining. "The Guardian of the Master Emerald- currently Knuckles- has a special connection to the emerald. Since my soul is sealed inside of it..."

"You have a connection to Knuckles?" asked Tails. Tikal nodded.

"That's great! Can you tell where he is?" asked Sonic, excited for the first time in weeks. Finally, he was going to find him!

"...No, I'm afraid I cannot. Our connection only does a few simple things- I can somewhat feel his emotions, though he cannot feel mine. I can feel when he is in pain, though he can't feel when I am. And now, I have reason to believe that we can communicate telepathically as well."

Amy suddenly looked frightened. "You mean... your attacks... they're caused by... Knuckles being in pain?"

Tikal's answer was deliberate.

"Yes."

Her simple statement caused a rush of thoughts to enter Sonic's head. "Wh-What?! But if your attacks are this bad... then what's happening to Knuckles?!"

"I'm not entirely sure. Although... the feeling the attacks give me... it's like a burning sensation, right in my chest. My guess would be fire or electricity... or some type of poison. His emotions are stronger the closer together we are, but today, they're stronger then they ever have been the past two months. Right now..."

Shadow was the one to inquire, "What's he feeling right now?"

Tikal looked up, and even she looked afraid. "Based on how little I've felt from him lately, he's scared out of his mind."

Silence as the four tried to process the information. Brave, strong Knuckles... scared? The words 'Knuckles' and 'scared' shouldn't even be in the same sentence!

"So... whatever his captor's doing to him..." Sonic went pale at the thought. "Oh that sick, twisted bastard! When I get my hands on him... or her... or it... or them... Argh!"

"I feel the same way. However-" Tikal suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence and clutched her chest. Tails recognized the symptoms and rushed to her side.

"Tikal!"

"N...Not again! AHHHH! NOAHHHH! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STAAAAAAAAAAH! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She writhed as the others tried to keep her still. Chaos rushed over as well, worried for the echidna as she screamed.

* * *

When it was finally over, Tikal just wanted to cry. "He's almost dead," she choked out. "His captor overdid it."

The attack had lasted so much longer than any one before it.

"We need to find him," said Shadow, surprising all of the beings near him. "Fast. I have a feeling that if this attack was so bad... then we don't have much time left until Knuckles is killed."

"Unfortunately, we have no way to find him," said Amy. "We don't know who his captor is, what they look like, or even if it's one person or many!"

"It's only one," said Tikal finally. "At least, there's only one who is hurting him. That's what I've gathered so far. But... this time... there was a mental image to go along with the attack."

"What was it of?" asked Sonic.

"I-It was only a silhouette, but... it was human. It had on some kind of goggles and a lab coat. It was tall, thin, and had this shaggy hair. I don't believe it was Eggman, unless he's got someone to work for him. But after that..." Tikal hugged herself, afraid. "Electricity. All different colors. I was right..."

"I don't think it was Egghead," said Sonic. "He would build a robot, not employ a human, if he wanted to hurt. Besides, we don't even know if he's out of Null Space."

"He hired the Jackal Squad, so I don't think it's out of the question. But speaking of them... is Infinite involved?" asked Shadow.

"It's not likely, but possible," said Tikal.

"aaaaaaAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sonic looked around, unsure of where the screaming was coming from... until a familiar purple cat landed on him.

"Oof! Blaze! What the..."

She rolled off of him and looked back up at the sky. "CURSE YOU!" she screamed at seemingly nothing. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?!"

"Blaze!" exclaimed Amy. "What-?"

"HOW COULD YOU?! YOU MONSTER!" Blaze continued to scream.

"Blaze! Stop!" Shadow finally spoke.

"'YOU CAN HURT ME ALL YOU WANT, JUST DON'T TOUCH HIM!' THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I SAID!" Blaze's screams turned to crying as she finally looked at the group surrounding her.

"S-Sonic? Wh-Wha..." Sonic didn't speak as he pulled her close. She sobbed into his chest.

"Who is she talking about?" whispered Amy to Tails.

The two-tailed fox shrugged. "Beats me," he admitted.

"She seems traumatized. And look at her arm- she's hurt. We should bring her to Vanilla. That woman's always good with those like... 'calming herbal remidies' or whatever she calls them," said Shadow.

Shadow was right. Blaze had a nasty gash on her left arm, and looking down, her ankle was twisted in an odd direction. Sonic scooped her up in his arms, one arm under her knees and another behind her back.

"Let's go."

* * *

 **Here we are, folks! The first chapter of Sonic and The Wicked Doctor!**

 **It was mostly inspired by Unleashing Hope and Letting Go Of Hope, by Loor... uh... there were numbers, but I don't remember what they were. Sorry! But you can find it on YouTube!**


	2. Blazing

**Hi. Guys, review if you like the story. I really don't know what people's opinions are on this. Please review.**

* * *

Sonic sat silently in the chair next to the guest bed. It wasn't often that he was motionless like this.

Blaze was lying on the bed, seemingly unconscious. It didn't take long for anyone to notice that she had been through a lot the past two months. Her fur was cut unevenly, what long was matted, her clothes and fur were dirtied... not to mention, the gash on her arm that Vanilla had wrapped up right away.

Shadow glanced inside, then back out. Vanilla was making tea while Cream was blissfully unaware of what was going on- watching TV with Cheese.

 _Shao! I left her with Silver! Speaking of him, wonder how he's doing... he might still be asleep. I left him a note so he wouldn't flip out, though. And he's got my cell number. And we have similar cell phones- same charger, he can charge his._

Amy nervously paced around the hallway while Tails sat at the table, nervously tapping it.

 _All of us are worried about Blaze. Something bad happened to her... wherever she was. I just know it._

Suddenly, the purple princess herself bolted out of bed and dashed for the bathroom. _She was awake?_

"Blaze! Wait-" Sonic was interrupted by the sounds of someone throwing up. "Oh, no..." he muttered as he ran after her.

Shadow had a sinking feeling that things were even worse than he had originally thought. He followed after Faker, noticing that Cream cocked her head in confusion. "What's going on?" the little rabbit asked.

The Ultimate Lifeform didn't bother to answer her- Vanilla seemed to have that covered. Shadow reached the doorway and froze in shock.

There Blaze was, heaving into the toilet while Sonic tried to comfort her by rubbing her back. When she was finally done, she limply flopped against Sonic. The blue hedgehog grabbed a wad of toilet paper for her to wipe her mouth off with.

"What's wrong?" asked Shadow.

Sonic looked up at him. "I don't know, but-"

He was cut off by a sudden coughing fit from Blaze. She raised her- dirtied- white glove to cover her mouth. When she pulled it away, she had a horrified look on her face.

"S-Sonic... l-l-look..." she stuttered. _Well, that's new,_ Shadow thought. He walked over to see what she was so concerned about.

Blood. On her glove. That certainly wasn't there before. Blaze flopped face-first into Sonic's shoulder, who seemed shocked. "Okay. I was right. This is bad, really bad. If Blaze has what I think she does... oh god..." Sonic paled. He picked Blaze up again and walked his way back to the guest room.

Tails, Amy, and Cream were already in there, all three looking concerned. Sonic set Blaze down on the bed and covered her up to just below her chest. Blaze still seemed spooked.

Vanilla walked in with a tray filled with cups of tea. "I made tea for everyone," she said, her kind smile, however, showing worry.

The five not-ill Mobians all grabbed a cup of tea. Blaze, however, turned it down. "N-No thank you, Ms. Rabbit."

"Oh, please, call me Vanilla," said Vanilla. She took the last cup for herself and went to put the tray back in the kitchen.

Sonic turned to Tails. "Hey, uh, I need to talk to you about something real quick. Out of the room," Sonic said. The two walked out of the room, standing next to the wall outside.

Vanilla returned, but was interrupted by a knocking on the door. "Oh! I'll get it," she said, leaving again.

Shadow pressed his ear up against the wall, hoping to make out what Sonic and Tails were saying. For a regular hedgehog, it would be very difficult to hear, due to the duo speaking in hushed tones, but he managed.

"Tails, I think I know what's wrong with Blaze," said Sonic.

"What do you mean?" asked Tails.

"Well, she threw up, and-"

"You mean... you think she's... pregna-"

"Hell no! She was coughing up blood, too! Coughing up blood isn't a pregnancy thing!"

Shadow glanced back at the others in the room. Amy and Cream were keeping Blaze's mind off whatever was wrong with her by indulging in idle chat. He wouldn't be caught eavesdropping.

"Look, Tails... the only way to confirm it is a blood sample. I think... if I'm right, I mean... well..."

Shadow took a sip of his tea. Unfortunately for him, it went down the wrong pipe and he hacked and coughed- drawing attention to himself. And nearly spilling the tea. Amy, Cream, and Blaze all turned to him. "Are you okay, Mr. Shadow?" asked Cream worriedly.

"I'm-" another hacking cough "-fine."

Tails and Sonic entered the room, the latter giving Shadow an odd look. However, he didn't question Shadow's obvious spying on the conversation. "So..." Tails began to say.

Vanilla entered the room again. "Sorry about that... a package arrived," she explained.

Tails nodded. "Anyway, if we're going to figure out what's wrong with Blaze, we need a blood sample from her. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to get one..."

"I might have a way," said Vanilla. "The package that arrived is a new first aid kit. A bunch of hypodermic needles were included."

Tails jumped up in excitement. "Thank you, Ms. Vanilla! But..." Tails deflated. "I wouldn't have a way to analyze it."

"I don't believe that would be a problem, either," said the rabbit woman. "My late husband had a strong interest in science and medical things. After his death, I... never got rid of all his things. There must be something in his supply that will help you."

Tails looked happy, then said. "Oh... I'm sorry for your loss..." he said honestly. Everyone else in the room was sorry for Vanilla's- and probably Cream's- losses.

"It's... alright. Cream and I have still been doing alright after he died. Anyway, his things are in that room over there. I put the first aid kit in the bathroom."

Tails nodded, then ran for the bathroom. In a few second, he was back with a needle. "Alright... here goes nothing," he said.

Blaze seemed to notice what was going on for the first time and tried to get away. "No! Get away from me! Don't touch me with that thing!" she shouted. Amy and Sonic held her arms down, though she still flailed.

"Blaze, stop!" Sonic responded. "We need to find out what's wrong!"

Blaze froze in place and whimpered almost silently. "P-Please... don't..."

Tails nodded at Amy, who held Blaze's right arm steadily. Blaze closed her eyes and held tightly onto Sonic's hand with her free one.

Shadow couldn't bear to look. While he was on the ARK, there were plenty of tests and experiments done on him- mostly with needles such as the one Tails was holding. It gave him an irrational fear of needles- probably, for life. Even though he wasn't getting stabbed with the thing, just being in the same room with that thing made him uncomfortable.

Speaking of rooms... And walls...

No! He wouldn't think about that.

"...Aaaand all done! Oops, I forgot to get a bandage..." said Tails. Wait, really? That quick?

"I got it!" said Amy, running to the bathroom to get one. "Here you go!" she said as she put in on Blaze's arm.

"H-Huh?" asked Blaze in confusion.

"I gotta go analyze this. Bye, guys."

Cream left the room for whatever reason... TV? Amy and Sonic (along with Shadow- Vanilla left) remained. "So... Blaze..." asked Shadow. "Why'd you freak out when Tails had the needle?"

Sonic picked his tea up from the nightstand as he glared at Shadow for asking the question. The ebony hedgehog suddenly realized that Sonic was quite a bit taller than he had thought he was.

"...I don't want to talk about it..." said Blaze, rubbing her arm.

"C'mon, Blazey," said Amy, causing Blaze to sputter at the nickname. The pink hedgehog picked up her own tea from the nightstand and took a sip- carefully, so she didn't nearly cough a lung out like Shadow did. "It can't be that bad."

"...Very well, th-then."

"When I was c-captured, all s-s-sorts of tests were done on me by th-th-the human scientists. R-"

"Hold up- you were captured by _human_ scientists?" asked Sonic, seeming to panic slightly.

"Yes? A-Anyway, right before I e-escaped, I was inj-jected with some kind of... dark green... thing... and-"

"H-Hold on..." Sonic looked like he was going to be sick to his stomach. "Dark green? Oh no..."

"Sonic... there's something I need to tell you," said Blaze, turning directly to him. "Before I escaped with the portal, Knuckles yelled something to me. He s-s-said... 'Tell Sonic that I'm with Poppy!'. I didn't understand what he meant, but... maybe you do?"

Sonic didn't answer. Instead, he flopped onto the bed- it was a good thing he'd finished his tea already, or there would be a mess- and seemed to go unresponsive. "Sonic!" Amy shrieked, putting her tea back on the nightstand and running over to shake him. "Wake up! Shadow, help me over here!"

"Sorry, 'm too busy drinking my tea," responded Shadow, though he would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a _little_ concerned.

"Shadow!"

"Can't, I'm drinking tea."

"Shadow, get your emo ass over here before I shove that cup of tea right up your-"

"Alright, alright! Jeez, you don't need to threaten me..."

* * *

 _Knuckles panted heavily. He coughed again, more blood winding up on his glove. "We can't keep doing this," he said. "Running from the humans, but still trapped in the lab? Neither of us will live if we don't get the antidote."_

 _Sonic was silent as he sat next to his friend. He was still shaken up over what he had witnessed._

 _"Hey," said Knuckles. "Sure, the kid's dead, but-"_

 _"But what?! She died so we could live?! Yeah, right!" Sonic suddenly yelled, fired up. He leapt to his feet. "You didn't see the light slip from her eyes! You didn't hear her stop breathing! You didn't frantically look for a pulse! No, you were too busy, looking for the damn Chaos Emerald! What makes you so sure there even is one here anyway?!"_

 _"Well, you see, Sonic," Knuckles spat out as he also jumped to his feet. "When you're the Guardian of the Master Emerald, you kinda figure out how Chaos energy feels! And did you really think that finding a way home wouldn't be my top priority?! Just like you, I didn't want to have to watch the rookie die and not being able to do a single damn thing to help!"_

 _"Finding a way home wouldn't do shit if we're going to die the second we get there! And now... the kid won't get a proper funeral. Nobody will even know she's gone... forever..." Sonic couldn't help the tears come to his eyes. "And... it's... all... my fault..."_

 _Wordlessly, Sonic fell forward into Knuckles' chest and wept. Knuckles patted his best friend's back in comfort. "A-Ava..." Sonic whispered. "Why did sh-she have to d-d-die...?"_

 _"I don't know, Sonic," Knuckles admitted. "But what she would want would be for us to get out- preferably, alive. She wouldn't want us to sit around and whine because we don't have a friggin' antidote."_

 _"Y-Yeah..."_

 _The crying kept going for minutes. Even Knuckles would be lying if he said he hadn't shed a few tears in the moment._

 _Sonic finally pulled away from the embrace. "Let's make a pact," he said. "If one of us ever ends up in a situation like this- in any tr-trouble at all, in fact- we need a code word to use to warn the other."_

 _"Sounds smart. What'll it be?"_

 _Sonic only thought for a moment. "Poppy. So, if one of us is in danger, we can yell something like, 'get the poppies!' or 'I'm with Poppy!' and the other will be prepared._

 _"Hm... Poppy... yeah, that sounds good. How'd you come up with it though?" asked Knuckles._

 _Sonic looked to the side. "Poppy was Ava's middle name."_

* * *

 **And here we are- chapter 2! Ava is The Avatar from Sonic Forces, in case you were wondering. I made her a red-orange cat with blue-green eyes. She had a black bodysuit as well as black combat boots and white fingerless gloves.**


	3. Sugar Honey Iced Tea Goes DOWN

**Hey... should I even write this story?**

* * *

"I'm home," Shadow announced as he walked into his apartment. Silver was there, sitting on the couch, watching TV. Shao sat next to him, intrigued with the show he was watching. "Well, you two seem to be having fun," he commented.

Silver looked up at him. "Hi, Shadow. What happened with the others?" he asked.

Shadow sighed and flopped onto the couch next to the younger hedgehog. "We found Blaze- well, more like she fell on top of us. She was injured and seemed traumatized, so we took her to Vanilla's house. She threw up in the toilet, coughed up blood, so Tails took a blood sample and tested it. What he found... well, she's in bad shape. Some kind of poison is wrecking her system."

"That's terrible! I have to see her!" Silver exclaimed, leaping up from his spot on the couch.

"How the hell are we going to explain your sudden appearance?" asked Shadow, following suit.

"...You didn't tell them?"

"I had literally no chance! We were all waiting for Faker to get back with the food, so I was going to tell everyone you're safe when he arrived! But then Tikal called us, we got dragged to Angel Island, found Blaze, brought her to Vanilla, found out that she's been poisoned, and then Vanilla sent us home! Tails is still working on curing her, though."

"You still could have brought it up! Listen, you're probably going to meet at Vanilla's house tomorrow again, right?"

Shadow nodded.

"So bring me with you!"

"But what am I going to tell them!?"

"THE TRUTH, SHADOW! TRY THE TRUTH!"

Silence. Shadow sighed and rubbed his head. "Listen, it's been a long day for me and I honestly just want to go to sleep. I assume you can just go ahead and spend the night in the guest room?"

Silver nodded.

"Good. Night."

* * *

Shadow awoke to the sound of a blood-curdling scream coming from the guest room. He leapt out of bed, startling Shao (who was sleeping at the foot of the bed as she usually did- she had her own Chao bed, but for some reason preferred his) and bolted to the guest room. "Silver!"

The younger hedgehog was trashing around in his bed, screaming and crying. "NO! STOP!"

"Silver! Wake up! It's just a dream!" Shadow rushed to the side of the bed, shaking Silver, trying to wake him up. Unfortunately, Shadow knew more than anyone that nightmares like this never felt like dreams.

"IT HURTS! PLEASE-!"

"SILVER! WAKE UP!"

After one final yell, the ivory hedgehog's eyes flew open, scared and confused. He latched onto Shadow and seemed to refuse to let go. Shadow was about to open his mouth to say something when Silver started sobbing.

"Sh-Shadow... you're okay... right? And Sonic and Blaze and T-Tails and Amy and Espio and..."

"Well, I don't know about the Blaze and Faker- she's sick and he's... him. But they're alive, if that's what you're asking. As for me? Well, I _think_ I'm still alive, but one can never be too sure."

Silver let out a small 'heh'.

"Do you need to sleep in my bed again?" asked Shadow.

"...Yes... I don't trust m-m-myself to not h-have the n-n-nightmare a-a-again."

* * *

The two hedgehogs woke the next morning in similar positions as to the morning before. Both embarrassed, they quickly set out for Vanilla's house.

"We'll walk from here," said Shadow. "I can only warp so much with Chaos Control. Well, so far, I mean."

Silver was silent as the two hedgehogs walked down the dirt road. He was obviously thinking about the nightmare- however it had been. Shadow really didn't know. The ivory hedgehog refused to say exactly.

"It's so quiet and peaceful out here," said Silver.

"Yeah," agreed Shadow. _Almost too quiet..._

Then he saw it. A glint, one of a gun. A gun that would shoot a tranquilzer dart, most likely.

"IT'S A TRAP!" Shadow yelled, shoving Silver to the ground. The dart fired, and Shadow felt a sting in his shoulder.

* * *

 _"NO! BLAZE!"_

 _"Silver... you have to run... now."_

 _"I can't leave you!"_

* * *

"SHADOW!" Silver screamed. The humans rushed out to grab them.

Shadow flung something green and recognizable towards Silver. "RUN! TAKE IT AND RUN!"

Shadow's arms were already numb, and the feeling was creeping towards his legs. A human soldier grabbed him by the arms as Silver snatched up the Chaos Emerald and ran as fast as he could in the direction of Vanilla's house.

"I'll get you out of there! No matter what it takes!" Silver yelled over his shoulder. He could have stayed to fight, if it wasn't for one thing.

Well, the lack of one thing.

His powers.

* * *

 _Silver struggled against the cuffs. They were special in the way that they completely blocked his powers. Blaze wore ones extremely similar, though Knuckles both lacked the cuffs and was lacking his strength- being knocked down to completely average. If he still had it, the three would have escaped a long time ago, likely with a few other captured Mobians._

 _The self-proclaimed doctor in front of him held a needle filled with a yellowish substance. "Do you know what this does, hedgehog?"_

 _Silver shook his head frantically._

 _"It blocks any extra powers. It's the exact same thing I gave to your echidna friend. I only recently realized it can be used for telekinetic- or do you call it psychokinetic?- powers. After all, we can't have you making mischief the moment I remove those cuffs._

 _"The serum lasts for a long time. The shortest time it's ever lasted is seventy-two hours. Just three days. The longest has been one hundred and seventy. A full week and some."_

* * *

Silver had been injected with it just before his escape, which had been... well, at least twenty-four hours ago. The twenty-four hour mark would have been last night, so maybe closer to thirty-six? Nevertheless, he still had time before the best-case scenario- seventy-two- came to pass.

On top of that, the memory was just about all he could summon of his time at that horrible place. He remembered nearly nothing else.

* * *

"Where _is_ he?" asked Sonic. He had arrived at Vanilla's house first, of course, and was already tired of waiting for the ebony hedgehog. Tails had stayed the night at Vanilla's to help Blaze and Amy had arrived a little after Sonic.

It wasn't like Shadow to be late. Sonic would almost be worried for him if it wasn't for the fact that he knew Shadow could definately hold his own in a fight. And Sonic also knew that Shadow had the green Chaos Emerald- if he was in trouble, he could just warp away.

Although... it was almost as if-

"Guys!" a familiar voice cried out as the light-gray hedgehog burst through the door.

"Silver?!" Sonic exclaimed. "But- you- wait...- huh?!" The others were experiencing similar amounts of confusion.

"There's no t-t-time! We h-h-h-have to hurry! Shadow's in trouble!" Silver was frantic in his request. Tears streamed down his face.

It was just then that Sonic realized Silver had the green Chaos Emerald. Silver looked outside quickly before seeming to realize something horrifying.

"NO! THEY TOOK HIM! HE'S GONE!" Amy rushed to Silver before Sonic could react.

"Silver, calm down! We can't help if we don't even know who 'they' are and where they took Sh-"

Amy was interrupted by Sonic running right past her.

Sonic reached the area of concern quickly. There was blood, and footprints that didn't look like Shadow's or Silver's. A lone tranquilzer dart lay in the dirt.

"They got him..."

Tails finally reached him after about thirty seconds. "Sonic, what's wrong?"

"They actually... captured... Shadow..."

* * *

 _Sonic froze as the familiar voice called out to him._

 _"Going somewhere, Blue?"_

 _He turned slowly on his heel to see something he never wished he would have had to see, never ever in a quadrillion years._

 _"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!" Sonic screamed in terror._

 _The doctor- no, the_ monster _in front of him- smirked._

 _Ava's mangled body dangled from the scruff of her neck, held by his hand. With a pang of horror, Sonic realized that_ she was still alive _. The man threw her onto the ground, the poor cat girl even being unable to yelp- instead, a barely-audible squeak was heard. She slid on the ground towards Sonic, who fell to his knees._

 _She looked up at him, scared out of her mind. "Help me," she mouthed. In no time, Sonic held her in his arms._

 _"You're going to b-be j-j-just fine, k-k-kid..." Sonic's voice broke._

 _"Now, now, don't go making promises you can't keep. All you're doing is setting both of you up for heartache," said the man._

 _"Why are you doing this? What kind of sick pleasure do you have to get from killing off teenage Mobians?" demanded Sonic._

 _"I get absolutely no pleasure from killing your kind. However, some sacrifices must be made in the name of science, and your friend's death is... sadly... going to be one of them."_

 _"Bull. Fucking. Shit. There was absolutely no reason for you to try to kill her. No reason for you to try to kill me, or Knuckles, or any other Mobian. What do you even want from us?"_

 _"All I require is the scientific knowledge of your kind. What serums do this? What poisons hurt? How do illnesses affect? The answer is ever-so-slightly different, depending on the species. As for why your friend will die..."_

 _The man got right in Sonic's face to deliver his last line. "This place is one that none of your kind will ever get out alive from. I merely ended her quickly- so that she can avoid the pain when you and the echidna die. And a second reason? To keep you here."_

 _Sonic froze. "Wh-What? What do you want with me?"_

 _"Blue, you are the most powerful creature in this world. You have defeated Dr. Eggman countless times, along with whatever he's conjured up along the way. That kind of power... well, it could be useful, in short."_

 _The man suddenly took a few steps back and pointed at the door. "Go."_

 _"...What?"_

 _"Go. That friend of yours is about to die. If you want to save her, the infirmary is down the hall, turn left, straight, then right. Good luck."_

* * *

"What's that?" asked Tails. He pointed to a slip of paper on the dirt. Sonic frowned and picked it up as Amy and Silver caught up to the rest of them.

 _Blue_

 _If you are reading this, then we have your friend. Whether it's the ivory or the ebony, we have either one.  
Who knows? We might even have both of them.  
If you want to get them back, present yourself at front entrance pf the laboratory at 5:00 PM sharp tomorrow evening. Go alone.  
If you do not arrive on time or at all, your friend will be killed or tortured to insanity.  
If you bring any friends, all of you will be killed or tortured to insanity.  
Choose wisely._

 _\- Doctor_

 _P.S. Don't try to rescue them. If you even so much as try, they- and you- will be killed or tortured to insanity._

Sonic went pale.

"Sonic? What's wrong?" asked Amy.

Sonic wordlessly handed the note to her and she read it, expression changing with varying degrees of horror. "This is terrible! We have to rescue him right away!"

"We can't, Ames. The doctor made it pretty clear what will happen if we try. There's nothing I can do except what the note says," Sonic said, his voice dry.

Tails looked terrified. "But you can't! This 'doctor' guy is going to kill you the moment he gets his chance! Besides, we can still try to get Shadow out! I mean, Silver and Blaze escaped, so it can't be that bad... right? And what's with the nickname? Do you two... know each other?"

"Tails, remember when I left after we took back the world?"

"Yes."

"Remember how you've been wondering what I was up to?"

"Yes."

"That's what I was up to. You see, Tails..." Sonic sighed. "Knuckles, Ava, and I were captured by him around four to three months ago."

"Ava? Isn't that the name of the rookie that joined the resistance and helped you defeat Eggman and Infinite once and for all?" asked Silver. "If she's at the lab, we can definitely get Shadow- and probably Knuckles, too- out!"

"Except she's not. And we can't tell her to go there, either," said Sonic.

"Why not?" asked Amy. "She was a HUGE help during the war. Why can't she help now?"

Sonic didn't answer. He refused to meet the gaze of any of his friends. Tears began to form in his eyes. "S-Sonic? What's wrong?"

The blue hedgehog mumbled something too quiet to hear.

"One more time, we couldn't hear you," said Amy, leaning in closer.

Silence.

Silence.

The quietness exhibited by Sonic was so uncharacteristic that it would have made all of them do a double take if it weren't for the tense atmosphere.

"SHE'S DEAD!"

* * *

 **Hey. See you next time.**


	4. Fear

**So I finally got a review! It's from a Guest called** **"SadAngstyWolf". Here it is:**

 **"Clap it up to you I'm a huge fan of your undertake fanfic and I really love this one too please don't stop either** **"**

 **Guessing you mean Undertale (I have a currently 30-chapter Undertale story, check it out if you want), THANK YOU! I was really thinking nobody cared about this story, but thank you so much for being the first reviewer.**

 **Also, I'm planning on changing the description for this story, so BE WARNED! Likely will change just before Chapter 5 goes up.**

* * *

The first thing he felt was the cold. Then, the numbness receding from his legs, then his arms. Finally, he squirmed around to wake himself up completely.

Shadow shivered. The room he was in _was_ extremely cold, and his fur, for some reason, barely helped. His wrists were tied behind his back, his ankles were tied together, and there was a blindfold over his eyes- the first two done with rope. The blindfold, Shadow guessed, was in case he had awoken on the way to... wherever this place was.

He sat up, glancing around to see if there was any light source in the room. "Hello? Is anybody there?" he called out. There was absolutely no light shining through the blindfold, which seemed to be plain gray cloth.

Suddenly, the door _SCREECHED_ open, causing Shadow to flinch at the noise. He went limp immediately, trying to fool whoever was entering the room.

A light was flicked on and a woman's voice was heard. "Ugh, it's this one. Whatever, let's just strap him in and let the Doctor do all the dirty work. He specifically asked to do the testing himself."

A gruff male spoke next. "Is it even awake?"

"I dunno," said a third, also male, yet younger voice. "Be careful with him, though. The Doctor won't like it if you hurt him too badly."

Shadow heard large footsteps walk up to him. Then, a sharp, very painful kick was planted right in his side.

He let out a pitiful yelp. _That is most likely going to bruise... not that I would be able to see it. Fur and all._ "He's awake now, at least," said the gruff man.

"Mark! Jonathan literally just told you not to hurt him!" said the woman.

"He isn't hurt other than probably being a little sore there. No broken bones. Jeez, Lexa, calm your ti-"

"Don't. Mention. My. Chest."

Shadow was suddenly grabbed by the arms and forced to stand, though he couldn't technically walk due to the rope around his ankles. He was lifted into the air and placed in a chair. His wrists were untied, but before they could be strapped in, Shadow broke free of the human's hold and ripped off the blindfold. He struggled with the ropes around his ankles for a moment before running as fast as he could out of the open door. "WHY DIDN'T WE CLOSE IT?!"

"HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

"STOP THAT HEDGEHOG!"

The black blur used his rocket skates to their full ability, trying to get away from those guys. Guards were already pouring into the hall, trying to chase him down. He passed by so many Mobians in cells, though none were familiar. _What is this place?_

Suddenly, he was confronted by a dead end. He glanced behind him, looking for a weak spot in the guard's formation. Unfortunately, there was none. Shadow pressed himself up against the wall, racking his brain for a possible option. Spindashing them was out of the question, using it on anything but a robot... no. He had no Chaos Emerald to use, he had given it to Silver. There was always the option of removing his inhibitor rings, but again, he didn't want to kill these people. He could try to fight his way through, though they all had guns. He did not. He was outnumbered severely.

Just before he reached a solution, a human man pushed his way through the crowd. He was tall, lanky, and had shaggy unkempt hair. He wore a lab coat, as well. "Well, well, well. Shadow the Hedgehog. No, I believe I'll call you Ebony, Eb for short. Just like the other hedgehogs, Blue and Ivory. Come with me, Shadow, and I promise you will not be harmed."

"I don't care what happens to me," said Shadow, surprised at how shaky his voice sounded. "There's no way I'll go with you, you creep!"

"Hm... so you don't care what is happening to the red echidna? I was informed by Blue that he was a close friend of yours. Even now, I'm sure... hmm, Knuckles, was it... is in unimaginable pain."

 _He has Knuckles? Wait..._

 _"So, these attacks... they're caused by Knuckles being in pain?"_

"You bastard," Shadow spat out. "You've been torturing Knuckles, haven't you? What the hell did he ever do to deserve that?"

The doctor's gaze turned cold. "Oh, he's done plenty to get on my bad side. Helping Lilac and Ivory escape, getting himself and Blue out, stealing our Chaos Emerald... Now, then. I have him strapped up to a device that will inject a lethal amount of electricity into him, killing him on the spot. All I have to do is press this button, and he will die." The doctor pulled a device with one single red button on it out of his pocket.

Shadow froze. There was no way he could possibly escape. He could take the remote from the doctor's hands, but doing so would still damn him and Knuckles. He would be walking right into the line of fire.

There was no choice.

"Fine. I'll go with you. But you can't hurt him in any way, shape, or form. Or Sonic, Tails, Amy, Blaze, Silver, Cream, Rouge, Vector, Espio, Charmy- well, screw Charmy-."

"I don't know if I can keep that promise. After all, I don't know who most of those are. But I will not hurt Knuckles. You have my word."

Shadow stepped towards him. The doctor put the button away and grabbed Shadow's arm.

* * *

"What are you doing, anyway?" asked Shadow as he was strapped into the chair.

"Testing," came the doctor's simple reply. "I need a blood sample, and I have to inject you with something... special. And untested."

Shadow paled. "A _what_?!"

The doctor did not reply as he grabbed one of the same needles Tails used for getting blood from Blaze and prepared. "NO! GET AWAY!" Shadow shrieked.

"Oh? Would you rather your friend die?"

Shadow bit his lip.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

 _"Now, now, Shadow, this won't hurt a bit," said Professor Gerald, smiling his kind smile as he handled the tiny 4-year-old hedgehog. He set him down on the testing table._

 _"Are you sure?" Shadow's small, high-pitched, childish voice asked. He cocked his head to the side._

 _"Yes, I'm quite sure. It'll just be a little pinch, and then nothing. We've had to wait a while to start testing, since you're smaller than average, though..." Gerald frowned. Other scientists took notes on the fact._

 _Gerald prepped the serum and put it into the needle, while another took it from him. "I'll inject him. You should take notes, you are the leading scientist after all." Gerald raised an eyebrow and glanced back at the wide windows- blonde curls poked out from beneath the window._

 _"Alright, take the needle, but don't inject Shadow just yet. He still doesn't trust a lot of people yet, you could give him lifelong trust problems if you spring it on him. He's told me he only wants me to do it."_

 _"He's four, how does he..."_

 _Gerald didn't listen to the rest of the statement. Instead, he exited the testing room and went to look for the owner of those blonde curls- his granddaughter,-_

 _"Maria!" he shouted. The little girl had been spying on the team of scientists and Shadow. She crossed her arms._

 _"You won't hurt him, will you?" The seven-year-old asked, concerned._

 _"Shadow will be fine, Maria. Worst case scenario, Shadow has a bad reaction to the injection, but he won't die. In that scenario, the worst that would happen is likely just a mild fever and a cough, possibly a headache, but what we're testing isn't that bad for him."_

 _"But I don't want anything bad to happen to him!" Maria exclaimed._

 _"And nothing bad will happen, most likely. After all, Shadow-"_

 _Suddenly, Gerald heard something alarming. The mixed sounds of a young hedgehog crying and scientists scrambling to figure out what was wrong. "Shadow! Maria, stay here!" he pushed open the door and shouted out into the chaos, "What happened?!"_

 _The same scientist who he had given the needle to sheepishly held it, the needle now being empty. A different one held Shadow, who was sobbing and wailing in pain, confusion, and fear._

 _"What did you do to him?!" Gerald demanded._

 _"I just gave him the serum..." the scientist whispered._

 _"Get. Out. Now!"_

 _The scientist skittishly did so. Shadow's small arms were outstretched towards Gerald. The professor took the distressed child away from the scientist holding him, who seemed glad to be rid of him. "He was crying out for you, you know. When John approached him with the needle. Tried to bat the needle away, too, but John just injected him anyway," she said as Shadow buried his face in Gerald's shoulder._

 _"It hurts," he whispered. Gerald turned away from her and went for the door._

 _"I have to get him to the infirmary to find out what's wrong."_

 _As Gerald hurried down the hall, he barely noticed the small footsteps echoing behind him._

* * *

Shadow was trembling as the doctor prepared the needle. This one would be the blood sample. "Do you have a preference for which arm?" Shadow shook his head.

The doctor grabbed his right arm and made it lay flat against the armrest, connecting the built-in cuff around Shadow's wrist. He tied a rubbery thing just above Shadow's inner elbow- to make the blood be easier to get. Shadow looked away and closed his eyes tight as the doctor got the needle close.

There was the pinch.

Shadow waited until he felt the doctor take the needle out to even open his eyes. He nearly vomited at the sight of his own blood in the tube.

Then the doctor approached with a needle made to inject.

Shadow's breaths came faster.

His head felt light.

His feet were numb.

He felt the sharp pinch in his arm and the untying of the rubber.

Whatever was injected into him made him feel sleepy and disoriented. His train of thought slowed, and when he was released from the chair, he could barely walk forward due to the sudden dizziness.

The last thing he heard was the doctor's laugh before passing out.

* * *

 **So here we are! Just for reference, this is the old description:**

 **"Sonic is losing hope. Knuckles is missing, Blaze is dying, and Silver can't remember anything from the past two months. On top of that, someone he hoped he would never see again is behind all of this..."**

 **I don't know what the new one will be, just know that it will change, most likely.**


	5. Alone

**No new reviews! Wonder _fucking_ ful!**

 **Not like I literally depend on them for motivation or anything!**

* * *

"Ugh... what...?"

Shadow sat up, rubbing his head.

"Where... am I?"

The cell was dingy and dark. Actually, less of a cell and more of a cage. A too-small one at that.

Shadow hated small spaces. He could feel his breaths coming slightly faster. He pressed himself into the corner, trying to make it seem like there was more space than there actually was in the tiny thing.

It didn't help.

"Hope ya like it, hedgehog," a guard smirked. _Must have been the one who brought me here._ "You're gonna have to spend the rest of your life in there." He walked away. "Not that that'll be very long..."

Waves of fear washed over him as he curled into a tighter ball.

* * *

"We have to do something!" Amy pounded her fist on the table. "We can't let everyone at that place just die!"

"And what about Shadow?" Blaze piped up. She looked more tired than usual, but she had insisted on joining in on the conversation. Especially after finding out that Silver was alive and well. "I don't know Knuckles's fate, but we can guarantee that Shadow is going through something similar to what we did. He doesn't have a chance of escaping. I mean, he would need a Chaos Emerald to do that, and as far as I know, the one they have at the lab is in maximum security. And he gave his to Silver, right?"

"Right," Silver sighed. "Look, I'm the reason we're in this mess. I was the target when the agents went to capture. Shadow literally threw himself in front of the dart to save me."

The group was back at Vanilla's house after checking out the area a little bit.

"Don't you dare blame yourself, Silver." Sonic's voice was flat, but angry. His right hand had crumpled the napkin on the table. His left was clenched into a fist. "It's my fault. I didn't think that bastard would start making it personal with the note. He broke his promise, and now I can't do a damn thing about it."

"A promise?" Tails asked. "What promise?"

"Y'see, it happened like this..."

* * *

 _"Wait just a moment, Blue."_

 _Sonic turned on his heel sharply. "What?! What do you want, you psycho? The last time you stopped me was when you decided to kill Ava. What now?!"_

 _"Now, now. No need for the hostility. I merely wanted to make a quick business proposal. One that benefits you far more than it benefits me."_

 _Sonic, despite his vendetta against this man, was intrigued. "Tell me what ya got in mind."_

 _Knuckles ran in, cyan Chaos Emerald in hand. "Sonic! I- YOU!" Knuckles pointed an accusing finger at the doctor. The human didn't mind, however._

 _"If you honor your end of the bargain, I will let both you and Red go. But of course, who would enjoy freedom while suffering from an incurable disease?" The doctor nodded towards Knuckles. Sonic stepped protectively in front of his frail friend. The poison was really doing a number on Knuckles, and due to past events... Sonic had had a sinking feeling as of late that Knuckles would die._

 _"By my calculations, Red will be dead by tomorrow at sunset. So, here is a solution." The doctor lifted a needle filled with a familiar pink substance out of the pocket of his lab coat._

 _"The antidote!" Sonic gasped. "So you'll give it to us?" he asked._

 _"If- and only if- you agree to what I'm about to say."_

 _Sonic nodded. "Anything."_

 _"You let me test one last serum on you."_

 _Sonic glanced back at Knuckles's pale face. "No, no you can't, Sonic." Knuckles insisted. "He's gonna kill you!"_

 _"Do I look like I have a choice? I'm not letting you die."_

 _"We'll find another way!"_

 _Sonic ignored him and stepped forward. "Alright. I'll do it. Only if you promise not to hurt me, or Knux, or Tails, or Shadow, or..." Sonic trailed off. "Ya probably don't know half those people, but Imma make it simple. If you know or they know that they know me, you can't touch them. Deal?"_

 _"Deal."_

 _The doctor removed a second needle from his coat pocket- this one black with red swirls. Knuckles lunged forward, spreading his arms out in front of Sonic._

 _"Knuckles, move!" Sonic shouted._

 _"NO! I CAN'T LET HIM KILL YOU!"_

 _"THIS IS THE ONLY WAY SAVE YOU!"_

 _"GUARDS!" The doctor barked. Two strong guards, a man and a woman, came from the door and grabbed Knuckles by the arms. They dragged him away, kicking and screaming._

 _"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"_

 _"Oh, just watch me..." the doctor's lips curled into a smile. "Oh, and I almost forgot to mention! You have to keep quiet about everything that happened here. No telling the police, or the government, alright?"_

 _"Fine. Just inject me already so we can get this over with." Sonic stepped closer and held out an arm._

* * *

"YOU WHAT?!" Amy, Silver, Tails, and Blaze simultaneously screeched.

"Do you know what that could have done to you?!" Tails yelled.

"Tails, that was months ago! Have I been sick in that time? No!" Sonic argued back. "I had to do it, or else Knuckles wouldn't have survived!"

"Survived what?!" demanded Tails. "You can't seem to decide if you're ignorant to everything going on, or if you know everything about what's going on!"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER!" Sonic shouted, springing out of his seat. "AND SO HELP ME, I'LL TURN MYSELF IN RIGHT NOW!"

Sonic took three big steps towards the door, but Silver was there in an instant to block him. "Sit. Back. Down. We are not letting you get yourself killed. What we need to do is figure out a way to get them out while also making sure none of us get killed. We'll have to sneak it."

"So we send someone in to distract them?" asked Blaze.

"Yes. We can't send anyone that they've seen before, so it has to be Amy or Tails."

"I'll do it," Amy said quickly, before Tails could open his mouth. She didn't want him to have to do it- besides, she would have her hammer if things went wrong.

"Are ya sure, Ames?" asked Sonic. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt by this guy."

"I'll be fine."

* * *

Shadow recoiled from a poke to his sore side. Looking for where it came from, he spotted a small hole just large enough to stick a single finger through. The Mobian on the other side of the wall had poked him, and now a violet gaze was peering through. "Shadow?!"

"Knuckles?!"

"How did you get here?!" Knuckles asked.

"I saved Silver from getting re-captured."

"So he's out? What about Blaze?"

"Silver's fine. Blaze has some kind of sickness. According to Sonic, he and you had it at one point."

"WHAT?! THEY INJECTED HER WITH IT?!" Knuckles screeched. "If we don't get an antidote, she'll be dead in a week! Sonic only survived so long because it wasn't to its full potential when he was injected. I barely lasted two weeks with it, probably because of my connection with the Master Emerald."

"I-"

Both went silent as a guard approached Shadow's cell/cage. He unlocked it and swung the door open. "The Doctor wants to see you."

"Tell him- OW!"

The guard had reached in and grabbed Shadow by the ear. "He's not taking 'no' for an answer."

* * *

Shadow hit the ground hard. He felt ribs crack as he bit down hard on his lip to keep from crying out.

"Interesting. You survived a fall that would paralyze most other creatures like you..." the doctor mused. The tests were rough. Shadow had lost track of time a while ago.

The doctor lifted him up and poked at the area where there were broken ribs. Shadow inhaled sharply.

"Broken. We'll have to fix those. To make sure you don't try anything funny..." he dragged Shadow over to a weird looking machine. It was a chair like the one his injections had to be performed in, with the cuffs on the limbs. There was a thing that reminded Shadow somewhat of the shocky bits on a taser above just above the cuffs.

The doctor locked Shadow in, attached electrodes, and put the shocky bits as Shadow liked to call them on his arms, legs, and chest. "What are you doing?"

"Just another test. Likely the last. You see, Shadow, according to studies, you function somewhat like a living Chaos Emerald. Which means you can be drained. If a full drain happens, it'll kill you. I doubt this first one will."

Shadow opened his mouth to protest, but the doctor turned the machine on immediately.

"We weren't going to drain you, originally, but since you didn't bring a Chaos Emerald..."

His screams echoed throughout the entire lab, striking fear into the hearts of every single captured Mobian.

* * *

Amy took a deep breath as she relayed the plan in her head. After night fell, she would go into the forest near the patrols of the guards. She would let one see her and shoot at her with a tranquilizer dart. She wouldn't be hit, but would pretend to be- if the dart was near enough, she could make a big show of throwing it away. She would then pretend to be unconscious. Once she was in, she would fight her way to the holding area, release Shadow and Knuckles, and get out. She could release other captured Mobians if she was able to.

There was a guard! He saw her and shot. She faked like she'd been hit. She pretended to pass out. In no time, she was in.

Summoning her hammer, she smacked the daylights out of the guard and ran. She would be discovered soon, she knew.

But she had to find Knuckles and Shadow. Immediately.

She was just about to blaze through the cells, looking for her friends when she heard the most bone-chilling scream she had ever heard. It was a scream of true anguish, fear, and pain, almost as if your being was being sucked out from your body. And it sounded like...

"Shadow?"

"AMY!" She heard Knuckles's voice calling out. She noticed a keyring on the wall, grabbed it, and immediately unlocked Knuckles's door.

"What is it? What's happening to him?" she asked as he climbed out.

"We have to get him out, fast! That bastard's going to kill him if we don't!" He grabbed her hand and ran for the source of the screams.

Suddenly, guards poured in, aiming their guns at Knuckles and Amy. "We're going to have to fight our way to him," said Knuckles. "Lucky for me..." he raised his fists. "That damn serum just wore off."

Amy had no idea what he meant, but raised her hammer.

The two fought hard, sometimes abandoning an opponent to keep running. The door was in sight when more guards poured in from another hallway. They turned back, but more guards were following.

"We're trapped," whispered Amy. "What do we do?"

Knuckles froze.

But as if in answer to a prayer, the roof fell in, and friends with it. Among them being Sonic, Tails, Rouge, Cream, Charmy, Blaze, Espio, Vector, a few recruits from the resistance, Big, and Omega.

"No time to waste!" Silver exclaimed. He was the last to fall, and landed right in Sonic's arms. "Knuckles! Amy! Get Shadow! We'll hold 'em off!"

Before Amy could question why exactly Cream was there, Knuckles grabbed her hand again and the two dashed through the crowd.

They pushed open the door together, and Knuckles immediately flew forward and punched the doctor square in the face as Amy turned the machine off and let Shadow out.

Unfortunately, they seemed to be too late. Shadow took one step forward before collapsing. Knuckles grabbed him. "We have to get out!" He adjusted his grip so that he was carrying him bridal style.

"Now!"

* * *

 **Bye.**


End file.
